New penalties proposed for public disorder

Hockey fans gather around a burning trash can in the early hours of the Stanley Cup riot in downtown Vancouver June 15.

Attorney General Shirley Bond has introduced changes to B.C. law that present new options for street disorder, unsafe driving and other provincial offences.

The amendments would add sentencing options for charges of being drunk in public laid under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act instead of the Criminal Code. Offenders could be placed on probation with conditions such as paying for damages, writing an apology and performing community service, and a new offence of breaching a probation order would be available.

Probation options are also being added to existing fines and jail terms for serious Motor Vehicle Act offences such as driving without due care.

For repeated trespass offences, probation would be available with court-ordered conditions to stay away from a specific area, along with the option of community work service instead of fines.